A number of 3d text presets are included in Action, such as rotating or fading text to add to your scene. These presets can help you add complex text effects with just a few clicks.

Some of the presets include 3D Path objects, which are unsupported in Smoke. These 3D Path objects are displayed as greyed out nodes in the schematic, and greyed out menus in the Object menu. They are read-only objects that can be viewed (in the image window and the Object menu), but not modified or linked to or from. In Channels view, you can view the parent channel for the 3D Path object, and in Tracks view, you can slide or stretch the parent channel.

To add a 3d text preset:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Drag the Presets node from the node bin and place it in the schematic.
   • Drag the Presets node from the node bin and place it where you want it in Result view.
   • Double-click the Presets node. You do not need to be in Schematic view to add a node in this manner.

     The 3D Text Preset file browser appears, pointing to the default location of the presets: usr/discreet/<product home>/3d_text_presets.

2. Optional: Enable Scale to Action Resolution to load the preset in the current Action resolution.
3. Optional: Select which rendering settings to enable or disable in the preset (Z-Buffer, Shading, Polygon Resolution, and Colour Clamping).
   NoteThese settings are enabled by default, and by disabling any of them, you may not see the intended results in the preset.
4. Navigate through the subfolders and select the 3d text preset you want to load. Hold Ctrl and click to select multiple presets.
   TipSwitch to Proxies view to see a visual representation of the presets.
5. Click Load.

   The 3d text preset is then appended to your Action scene. In the 3D Text menu, you can change the default text string of the preset.

For a listing and description of all available 3d text presets, see the 3D Text Presets Reference Guide, available at http://www.autodesk.com/smoke-documentation-2010extension.